Seltene Erkrankungen
by FreeSpiritedWarrior
Summary: When Gilbert returns from yet another war, he discovers his little brother Ludwig is terribly ill. Not knowing what to do, he decides it'll be best to ask Roderich for help. But even with the best medication, Ludwigs condition only gets worse. Will Gilbert find a cure for his beloved brother, or is it over? [Contains Chibitalia x HRE]
1. Chapter 1

**I finished it just in time! I had to write this in one day due to me being lazy and getting distracted all the time... Hehehe**

**But here it is! My last story of 2014! **

**\\(0.0\\) HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! (/0.0)/**

After the battle with yet another country he would forget the name of within a few weeks, the Prussian army returned to their homeland. Mauled and bruised, broken and tired, with yet a new scar to look at in the mirror, their leader returned home to be greeted by his little sibling.

Ludwig, a feisty boy who never turned down a dare, had been sitting in the same position for days, perhaps weeks. He refused to eat more than an apple and slept for three hours max until his brother returned from war. He looked tired, sitting on the porch of the massive house they lived in. His usually bright blue eyes seemed to have darkened, accompanied by dark bags under them, giving him this dark aura. His lips were chapped, his skin even paler than it normally already was. He looked like he had been wearing those clothes for weeks. They were dirty, even ripped at some places and full of stains of earth and grass. To be honest, he looked like a dead person.

When the young boy saw his older brother, it seemed like a little fire in his eyes was lit. His expression turned from almost depressed, to a kind smile and eyes full of love. He ran towards his brother, who almost jumped off his white horse and did the same, opening his arms for his brother to run into. He lifted him up in the air above his head, spun around while laughing happily and hugged him tightly afterwards.

They went inside, the younger of the two still hiding his real condition. He couldn't tell him the truth, not now. But eventually the Prussian would find out himself and it would be even harder for him. Ludwig couldn't help but think he held his older brother back. He was some sort of bump in the road Gilbert couldn't get over. He had lost people because of Ludwig, he knew that. But he also knew his brother loved him too much to tell him that. So far he'd managed to keep everything hidden from his brother, but after no less than ten minutes he began coughing, his face started to look only paler and his eyes seemed to turn grey. When Gilbert asked him what was wrong, he said it was nothing. He couldn't disappoint his brother.

As the day progressed Ludwig started to feel worse and worse. His stomach seemed to implode and his head was pounding.

That night Gilbert woke up from a strange sound coming from a room near him. Wondering if someone had snuck into the house, he tiptoed into the hallway.

It was completely dark safe from a few lit torches on the walls of the mansion that made certain areas visible for the human eye. The sound led him to Ludwig's room. He pushed against the door with just the tips of his fingers. It make a creaky sound as if it was going to fall of its hinges any second from now.

Gilbert found his brother asleep but rolling around in as if he was in major pain. The moonlight from outside showed tears rolling down the blondes pale face, the bloodstains on his pillow from a recent nosebleed and the bags under his eyes. If he hadn't been moving when Gilbert found him he would've though he was dead. Shocked by what he saw, Gilbert rushed to his brothers side and picked him up bridal style.

Ludwig's emotionless eyes opened. Gilbert couldn't make out if his brother was looking at him or just staring in front of him.  
''Where are we going?'' he asked softly, his voice faltering slightly. The younger tried to protest, but his attempt to convince Gilbert he could walk by himself was in vain. The older only seemed to get more worried every time he made a little noise, coughed or sniffed. To be honest, he knew that it had no use to protest. Gilbert wouldn't believe him. But even now, when things got serious, he felt bad about it. Gilbert couldn't focus on more important tasks and it was all his fault. The little blonde was too far gone to realize that Gilbert didn't care about anything but his brother and would do anything for him any time he needed to.

Gilbert gave him a concerned look, pulled him closer and kissed his forehead softly. ''Don't hide it, Luddie. I know you're sick,'' he said, his voice tender and broken at the same time. It broke his heart to see his brother like this, weak and hardly alive. He himself didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what illness Ludwig had, but it looked worse than anything he had seen so far - and he had seen a lot - . The way his little brother felt like a ragdoll in his arms almost made him sick. It felt so unnatural. It also made him furious. All servants in this house had done a terrible job at looking after Ludwig. Apparently they didn't even know how bad his condition had gotten in the past few days. If it wasn't for Ludwig's condition, he would've shown them why many people feared him.

He almost ran down the stairs with Ludwig still in his arms. As fast as he could, he grabbed the olive green blanket that was often used for when it was winter and wrapped it around his little brother when he ran outside. Careful not to let him slide off, Gilbert lifted him on his horse and got behind him so he could hold his little brother when they made way to Roderichs and Elizabeta's home.

''Hold on tight, Luddie...'' he whispered, although he knew Ludwig probably couldn't even hear him. ''You're going to be fine..''

_**To be continued...**_

**I hope you like it so far! I have no idea if I'll write another chapter of this tomorrow or another chapter of Battle Scars... Maybe I'll even write a PruCan one-shot because PruCan deserves to be my first story of 2015 hehehe. I'll make sure to write a Spamano and FrUK story too because they're just awesome **

**And again...**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!**

**(Although it's around 18:00h when I'm going to upload this where I live hahaha)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I received a review from a very nice person a few days ago, who told me this chapter was completely glitched out. I took a look at it and.. Jup.. Glitched out... So I tried it a second time...**

**Here it is (notes included), I hope you enjoy:**

**Und I'm back from the dead... It took me a while to finish this thing. My mom and I moved to a new house so yeah...**  
**Wish me luck...**

He couldn't even feel the icy cold wind slamming against his face anymore. He didn't even care about his own chances of catching a cold. There was nothing that mattered to him anymore, except for his little brother Ludwig. Every passing second felt like ages for the concerned Prussian. He held his brother tightly, his head resting against the other's chest. He was as light as a feather, his ribcage visible if someone were to take off his thin shirt. His eyes looked emotionless, yet sleepy, the bright blue color being replaced by a grey one. Those eyes of his little brother now looked the same as those of an elderly blind lady Gilbert had encountered more than 50 years ago, when he had gotten himself lost somewhere in Northern Europe - Gilbert couldn't even remember the country - and the woman took him in for the night. He could still see her slightly trembling hands and her kind and loving smile. She had cared for him as if her own son had presented himself at the door.

No less than a week later, Gilbert returned for the woman with more food she could have wished for, but what he found was an empty house. He'd assumed she had gone out and would return, but after a day of waiting, the woman still hadn't returned. Gilbert found himself worried. The door was unlocked when he arrived here..

He had never found the strange woman. Now, more than 50 years later, searching had no use either. The woman had to be at least 75 when Gilbert had met her and he'd never heard of a person turning 125 years old.

''Luddie,'' he whispered, trying to focus on the muddy road in front of him, but finding it hard to do so. The boy in his arms didn't answer. Occasionally he would let a small pained sound escape his throat.

It could've been only hours, but it felt like they had been traveling for days when they finally reached the manor which was home to Roderich and Elizabeta. Gilbert carefully slid off his horse with the young boy clutched to his chest. His boots made a squishy sound when they were forced into the mud and Gilbert almost instantly felt the cold liquid pouring inside of them. He didn't pay attention to it, though, because there was no one more important to him than his brother. It amused him to see how different he and his brother were in so many different ways. For example: Gilbert was always the one to speak, even when he wasn't asked to. Mostly when he wasn't asked to.. Ludwig almost never spoke, only when he was asked something, and even then his answers were mostly just a nod or merely one sentence long. There were also a few things they had in common, like how they would never give up until they had reached their ultimate goal. Gilbert always guessed it runs in the family… Except for Roderich, because he gave up after his first try failed. He never understood why Elizabeta loved him so much.. She had rejected his love before and had chosen Roderich over him multiple times. After all that time, Gilbert had moved on. The rejections and jealousy didn't matter anymore.

With every step he took, the Prussian could feel the grip of his younger brother on his neck and shoulders get weaker and weaker. He was scared, to say the least. His younger brother had been a strong empire for quite some time now, but his grip on his own land started to get neglected. He'd lost his iron grip, his intimidating strength. Gilbert had suspected it was because of this girl Ludwig really liked for a while now, but he was never sure. He remembered Ludwig sneaking out just so he could see the little mysterious girl who turned out to live with Roderich and Elizabeta in the end. What was her name again? Felicia? Something like that.. He couldn't remember. Elizabeta had mentioned her once before, but that was a long time ago. She had left the couple a while ago to live with her older sibling and his caretaker, but neither of the German siblings knew that.

Although he didn't show it, Gilbert knew his little brother was still not over her, but he thought maybe he'd get a chance to see her while they were here. Maybe it would help him get better.

The enormous wooden front door opened to reveal the face of a woman with beautiful green eyes which reflected the weak light of a candle she held in her hand flawlessly. Her long brown hair decorated her fair face like shiny waterfalls. All those little things about her made Gilbert want to reach out and run his hands through the soft brown locks. She didn't seem to notice the little boy wrapped up in a big green cloak the Prussian was holding in his arms and almost closed to door on them until Ludwig let out a small cry. She craned her neck to look at the figure in the albino's arms to confirm her thoughts. When she saw the boy, in a condition worse than she could ever imagine, she almost pulled the two brothers inside. Just when Elizabeta and Gilbert reached the large stairs, her Austrian husband Roderich called from the first floor, asking her who was at the door. Hurried footsteps came down the stairs, revealing Elizabeta's dear husband. His eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets when he saw the little boy Gilbert clutched to his chest.

Roderich and Gilbert had never liked each other very much, but when push came to shove they were always more than glad to help each other.

**That was that..  
I'd love to hear your opinion, so please remember to leave a review or PM me if you've got some time to spare.**

**Until next time...**  
**Have a nice day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**And the new chapter is finally up! Took me long enough...**

**At first my idea was to write a short fanfic, but now I've got more inspiration and an idea I'm going to use to make this thing a little longer. I have no idea if it's going to be a sequel or if I'm going to stuff it all in this story...**

**But we'll see!**

**I hope you enjoy and have a nice day/night/horse/whatever time it is!**

It had been days since they had seen Ludwig out of bed. Even though they had tried various medicines to cure every possible illness Ludwig could suffer from, none of them had worked even a little bit. Day after day, his condition seemed to get even worse. There were dark bags under his eyes, which used to be full of life but had now lost their sky-blue color completely.

Gilbert had found his little brother crying in bed more than once in the past week. It felt like someone had shoved a dagger in his heart and had twisted it over and over again every time he saw his brother like this. He would do anything for him. He'd sail to the ends of the earth for him, he'd walk through a desert without a single drop of water, he'd walk from Portugal to China without stopping. He'd even switch his own condition with Ludwig's if he had the choice to do so. But unfortunately, there was not such thing as a choice.

Roderich and Elizabeta had requested for the maids and other staff of their mansion to take a few weeks off until the doctors found out if Ludwig's illness was contagious. Gilbert had been gone for a few days to search for other possible cures, but his search had come to an end. He had visited towns he had never heard of and couldn't even pronounce the names of in the past few days. He hadn't slept properly for longer than what was still considered healthy now and his stomach had started to scream for food ages ago.

He couldn't even remember when he had ate properly or had slept longer than half an hour. Maybe five, six days ago? It was all a blur.

When Gilbert finally returned, tired and broken, Roderich and Elizabeta almost needed to carry their friend inside of their mansion. They fed him and put him to bed immediately. The afternoon before he arrived, the couple had carried another bed from one of the nearby rooms to the room Ludwig was staying in. They both knew Gilbert wouldn't rest without knowing his brother was safe 24/7. The two of them almost had to drag Gilbert upstairs, because he was too tired to stand on his own legs, let alone walk and climbing up a flight of red carpeted stairs.

When they finally got him into bed, he curled up beside his little brother in an instant and fell asleep mere seconds after lying down. The two other nations left the room tiptoeing and went straight downstairs to clear the table and wash the dishes.

''Do you think he'll ever get better?'' Elizabeta asked after a long and heavy silence between them. She was very concerned, not only for Ludwig but for her long-time friend Gilbert too. She loved both of them with all her heart and they were like brothers too her. Seeing Gilbert risking it all for his little brother both warmed and broke her heart. Never before had she seen someone as ill and weak as Ludwig, and it scared her. Ludwig had been sick before, but had never been anything like this. Normally, Gilbert would take care of his little brother on his own, but it was clear to everyone this wasn't something simple. None of them knew if this was even an illness humans could also suffer from, let alone be cured.

Roderich took a few seconds to give her a sad look and study his hands, which had stopped cleaning the plate he held in his hands. ''He has to,'' he said softly, ''he's a nation, he can't just.. Die?''

It had sounded more like a question than a statement. Roderich wasn't sure if the assumption nations had about being immortal were even true. The Roman Empire didn't exist anymore, and the man young Feli had called Grandpa Rome no longer roamed this earth. Not alive, that is.

They hadn't seen the young child for a while now, after the child had decided to visit 'big brother Lovino' and his caretaker Antonio. Roderich remembered the day he handed Lovino over to Antonio. He had never liked the Spaniard very much, but they managed to get along when needed. He was just glad he didn't have to deal with this rude brother of his Italian little sweetheart.

The Austrian was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of breaking glass. His eyes shot downwards and spotted the shard of now broken glass Elizabeta had accidently dropped on the floor in an instant. When he looked up to his beloved wife he couldn't help but notice the look she had in her beautiful green eyes. He couldn't quite figure out what emotions were behind this look she was giving the floor, but it looked a little like fear to him. Her green orbs were a little watery and her cheeks were as red as a red rose. Could it be that she was afraid he'd get angry because of something as small as a broken glass? He did understand where this fear was coming from. Before the two of them fell in love and got married, Gilbert had told him a story about him beating up another guy because he had apparently mistreated Elizabeta for months, but Roderich never believed it. It was Gilbert, after all. Most of the stories the Prussian told him sounded a little too extreme to be true. But maybe he should have believed him...

Snapping back to reality, he lifted the brunette's chin up to get her to look at him and sent a sweet smile, after which he gave her a peck on the nose, grabbed a broom and started to clean up the bigger shards of glass. Elizabeta joined him a few seconds later and threw the shards they had collected away afterwards, while Roderich searched for a dustpan to clean up the little pieces that were scattered all over the floor.

''I'm sorry about the glass,'' Elizabeta said softly, while kneeling down and using her hands, which went unnoticed by the other, to collect little pieces of glass.

Roderich looked up at her and smiled lovingly. ''It's just a piece of glass, mein Schatz. Don't worry about it,'' he said, grinning softly, his voice as sweet as sugar. He ruffled her hair playfully and turned around to throw the little shards away. He heard a relieved sigh coming from the Hungarian woman who was still on her hands and knees behind him. So Gilbert wasn't lying after all when he said she had some traumas.. It's hard to believe someone as strong and fierce as her could be tortured like that by just a normal human being. She was a nation, after all! Roderich let out a soft sigh and squatted down again to help Elizabeta with the last shards. That's when he noticed her hands. They were covered in scratches and cuts from the little pieces of glass, blood dripping out of them.

He grabbed her hand carefully and turned it over to look at the other side. Her whole hand, the backside too, was covered in cuts with little pieces of glass still sticking into the flesh wounds.

''Dear Lord, what have you done to yourself?'' he asked her, his brows knitted together while he turned over her hand again.

She looked away. ''I was so sorry about the glass and I didn't want to waste time to grab a broom,'' she explained, her accent sounding a little thicker than it normally did. ''I'm such an idiot..''

''You're not an idiot,'' Roderich said instantly after she'd finished her sentence. ''You're perfect. You're smart, pretty, fierce, strong, sweet, funny and everything anyone could ever ask for. And I love you more than anyone else.''

He leaned in to capture her lips with his own. They tasted sweet, like strawberries. She smelled amazing too. Like a fresh summer breeze. Oh, how he loved this woman!

When they both pulled away, the Austrian man carefully took her wrist. ''Now let's get your hands bandaged.''

**Dat drama and shipping and stuff thoooo~**

**I'm sorry, that was weird...**

**I hope you enjoyed and I hope I'll see you lovely people in the next chapter! ^.^**

**Tschüss meine Birdies!**


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